LEADING INDICATORS: Only one of the six components that make up the leading index increased in September. The positive contributor was the Spanish contribution to Euro M2. The negative contributors —in order from the largest negative contributor to the smallest—are the inverted long-term government bond yield, job placings, the Spanish equity price index, order books survey, and the capital equipment component of industrial production.
With the decrease of 0.3 percent in June, the leading index now stands at 152.4 (1990=100). Based on revised data, this index increased 0.6 percent in May and declined 0.6 percent in April. During the six-month span through June, the index increased 1.3 percent, and four of the six components advanced (diffusion index, six-month span equals 66.7 percent).